2021 Warner T. Koiter Medal – Professor Gerhard A. Holzapfel

The Executive Committee of the ASME Applied Mechanics Division is pleased to announce and congratulate Professor Gerhard A. Holzapfel, Professor of Biomechanics and head of the Institute of Biomechanics, Graz University of Technology in Austria, as the recipient of the 2021 Warner T. Koiter Medal. This award, which includes a medal, a plaque, and an honorarium, will be presented at the Applied Mechanics Division Awards Ceremony, during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, to be held virtually, on November 1-5, 2021.

The Warner T. Koiter Medal, established in 1996, is bestowed in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of solid mechanics with special emphasis on the effective blending of theoretical and applied elements of the discipline, and on a high degree of leadership in the international solid mechanics community. The award was funded by the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, to honor Warner T. Koiter for his fundamental work in nonlinear stability of structures in the most general sense, for his diligence in the effective application of these theories, his international leadership in mechanics, and his effectiveness as a teacher and researcher. 

Professor Holzapfel receives the Koiter Medal for outstanding contributions to the applications of solid mechanics in the development of continuum theory, computational methods, simulations and experiments in the biomechanics of soft biological materials; and for international leadership in the field through editorships, conference organization, mentoring and Ph.D.-level education.

Yuri Bazilevs

Chair, ASME Applied Mechanics Division